Read More

To the relief of residents, the blot on the landscape is to be removed at last and 34 homes will be built there by Gloucester-based Newland Homes. Twelve flats will go up, with the other homes being either two, three or four bedroom houses.

The developer said today it expected the demolition to take place, gradually, over about six weeks and that the houses should be built by next summer.

Builders will gradually dismantle Springbank Shopping Centre

Built in the 1980s, the shopping centre was completely unoccupied by 2009 after becoming a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

While welcoming the start of the demolition work today, the borough councillors for Springbank said there was a lesson to be learned.

Read More

Liberal Democrats Peter Jeffries and Suzanne Williams said the centre had been built facing away from houses, meaning there was nobody overlooking the shops. This, they said, meant anti-social behaviour had developed largely unchecked.

Mr Jeffries said: “This was a prime example of how not to build a community. There was nobody facing on to it.

The shopping centre in 2015

“But I’m really pleased that a local developer has come to the rescue of the community.”

Ms Williams said: “The whole thing was built the wrong way round. It should have been facing the houses.

“But residents are really glad that it (the demolition) is happening.”

The two councillors said there was a sense of regret that the development would contain no shops but nevertheless they were happy to see the project begin.

Cheltenham’s Conservative MP Alex Chalk joined the councillors at the site as builders showed them around before starting the demolition work.